The Faces of The Wage Action Movement

By

Laura Reston

June 12, 2014

—Steven Senne/ap

Fast food workers, university professors, and cab drivers will descend on three locations throughout the Boston area Thursday, staging a series of protests in hopes of raising the minimum wage. We talked to five protesters, who ranged from a Sundanese refugee to a Dorcester native. All of them outlined a constant struggle to make ends meet. Some earn so little that they cannot pay electrical bills. Others have trouble buying groceries every week. Read about how they would benefit from a higher minimum wage here.

“An Equal Chance’’

—Laura Reston/Boston.com staff

Name: Christopher Crosby

Age: 23

Employer: Dunkin’ Donuts

Hourly Wage: $9

Christopher Crosby works at a Dunkin’ Donuts where he said the conditions are extreme. Sometimes it can be hot during the height of muggy Boston summers. At other times, it can be extremely cold.

Crosby works more than 40 hours every week, but receives less than $300 weekly. After paying his rent, he has little to spend on anything besides food.

He has not paid an electrical bill in months and comes home to a dark house every night.

“That’s not how anybody wants to live,’’ Crosby said. “With the wages we’re getting now, there’s no room for growth or improvement. How can we improve ourselves if the opportunity’s not there?’’

He one day hopes to return to school, but said he does not know how to apply for financial aid. He sayid his time and energy go to scraping together a living wage.

He noted, however, that a $15 minimum wage would completely alter his daily existence.

“Fighting for $15 is pretty much like fighting for equality and an equal chance,’’ he said.

“A Hole in Our Pockets’’

—Laura Reston/Boston.com staff

Name: Pierre Duchemin

Age: 58

Occupation: Cab Driver

Hourly Wage: $5 – $10

Duchemin, originally from Haiti, now works as a cab driver. He noted that although people often think that driving a cab is a lucrative profession, new gadgets, such as a credit card machines and television displays, have set drivers back.

“It has created a deep hole in our pocket,’’ Duchemin said.

He now has to rely on credit card companies to pay him back twice a week. The intermittent periods when Duchemin has to wait for credit card companies to pay him back often leave him without any funds to pay his rent or buy food.

“I work every day, but I cannot pay my rent on time,’’ Duchemin said. “Why should I have all those burdens if I’m working? Why are the city or everyone else not doing something?’’

Immigrants like Duchemin often send money back to their native countries where family or friends rely on those funds. Duchemin only earns enough to live paycheck to paycheck, so it can be hard to scrape together enough money to send back to Haiti.

Duchemin also has mouths to feed at home. He has two children in college and said that any extra money he earned from an increased wage would go to fund their education.

“That money will go to make sure that my kids get the best education,’’ Duchemin said. “They can finish, and I don’t have to scratch my head to say that this year you have to take two classes.’’

“A Daily Struggle’’

—Laura Reston/Boston.com staff

Name: Theresa Jordan

Age: 18

Employer: Burger King

Hourly Wage: $8

Jordan works at a Burger King where she works the register, but often spends most of her day doing cleaning work, she said.

Only 18 years old, she plans to start a degree program during January. But for now, she struggles to make $8 per hour wage stretch to pay for food every week.

“I work really hard and don’t get enough to get food for the rest of the week,’’ Jordan said. “It’s just a struggle. A daily struggle.’’

“Changing Everything’’

—Laura Reston/Boston.com staff

Name: Emmanuel Sebit

Age: 21

Occupation: Baggage Handler at Logan Airport

Hourly Wage: $8

Sebit fled South Sudan two years ago, seeking an escape from the conflict-ridden country and a new life here.

He originally worked at the Family Dollar, earning $8 per hour, but had to seek another job to pay for basic necessities like groceries. He eventually found a job at Logan Airport as a baggage handler.

Sebit said the job at Logan offers few benefits. He recently fell sick and received a bill for $500—a sum he said he simply does not have.

When asked what an increased wage would do for him, Sebit said that the money would fundamentally transform his life, perhaps even prompting him to return to school.

“It will change everything about me. I will feel like going back to school,’’ Sebit said. “Right now I am working so I won’t be homeless. I can’t even think about school.’’

“Everything’s Money’’

—Laura Reston/Boston.com staff

Name: Ashley Urguhart

Age: 19

Employer: Dunkin’ Donuts

Hourly Wage: $8

Urguhart grew up in Roxbury and now works at a Dunkin’ Donuts just a few miles away.

A part time student, Urguhart still has to help her mother to pay rent. Her mother is a manager at Walgreens, but Urguhart said that job pays $9 an hour.

“I have to pay for school, then rent, then (go) to work,’’ Urguhart said. “Everything’s money.’’

Without help from her parents, she said, she would probably be homeless within the first month.

She said that her customers realize that she earns a meager wage, but feel that they can do little to help.